you missed any part of today's show check out my podcast on cnn.com/podcasting. the answer to all your medical questions. thanks for watching. i'm dr. sanjay gupta. more news on cnn starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning, everybody, from the cnn center in atlanta, georgia. this is "cnn saturday" morning. 8:00 a.m. eastern. wichita, kansas, san francisco, california, wherever you may be, good morning. >> and i'm kate bolduan. thanks for starting your morning with us. if traveling you, may want to think twice. >> problems around the country and around the world. thousands are stranded all around the globe. flights are cancelled. why? you don't hear this often, but because of a volcano, in iceland

of all places. it has been spewing ash into the air. this video, still spewing, this cloud that is keeping planes grounded. you can't fly through this stuff. it could actually shut down the plane's engine. more details in a moment. never mind dinner for just two. how about dinner for all of your friends, and then some. we're talking about new social media website, four square, that let's you tell your friends where you're eating, where you are. but is it really safe? we'll take a closer look. we want to get a check of stories making headlines this morning -- a public funeral still taking place right now in warsaw for the victims of last weekend's polish plane crash that took place in russia. this is a live picture. we've been keeping our eye on this the past couple of hours, actually. the country's president and 95 others killed in a plane crash that happened a week ago today. the ceremony will be followed by tomorrow's funeral for the president and his wife. and haiti's top prosecutor

says kidnapping charges are not dropped against nine american missionaries accused of trying to take 33 haitian children out of the country after the 7.0 earthquake in january. the nine americans are back in the u.s., but the leader is still in jail in haiti. and investment firm goldman-sachs accused of selling mortgage backed securities officially set up to lose money. allegedly the deal was put together in part by a hedge front tycoon betting against them. the fed says investors who bought them lost billions of dollar. goldman says the charge is unfounded. get back to our live picture of that service we've been seeing in poland, for poland the president and the other victims of last weekend's plane crash. we've been hearing music and singing. this started about two hours ago. we have cnn's reporter in warsaw kov covering the memorial

service. those are all the pictures of the 96 people who died there. and, again, the polish president, first lady, many other high-ranking officials in the polish government were killed. let's go ahead while we do have this live picture and listen in for a moment. ♪ [ singing in foreign language ] ♪

♪ again a live picture. a mass happening right now. hundreds of thousands expected for that memorial in the streets of warsaw to honor that country's president and first lady and the 94 others killed in that plane crash a week ago today, trying to land in russia. our frederick liycan is there. we'll see, actually, tomorrow the funeral for the president and the first lady play out there. how are they beginning to prepare for what is expected to be a major event with a lot of world leaders there tomorrow? krrt inde >> reporter: indeed.

coming down to the last minute. they to put it together in just a few days. as you say, dignitary, world leaders coming from across europe and beyond. big crowds are expected. hundreds of thousands of people, but, of course, a very big security operation must keep an eye on it all. funeral service itself will take place in st. mary's basilica behind me. it is the location chosen for president lech kaczynski, very controversial across poland but especially here in krakow. laid to rest in the castle considered by many to be the most significant landmark in this country. it is the resting place of poland's greatest heroes. while there are some people in this country who believe he deserves to be among them, there are many who passionately believe he does not. poland's first responded to the death of the president, first lady and 94 other people with

deep sorrow and absolute unity. in less than a week, things changed. [ chanting ] these rival protesters in krakow are voicing two sides of a debate that has split the nation. on one side, those who passionately believe president lech kaczynski should be entombed beneath the castle, that he simply doesn't deserve it. >> the royal castle is very important for identities. >> reporter: on the other side of a road is a smaller, quieter group insisting the late president does deserve the honor. >> i believe he was a great polish hero. >> the decision is made, and we shouldn't make it another reason to fight. >> reporter: this grand structure is what they're fighting over.

krakow's castle, which contains the royal cathedral. this is the crypt beneath the cathedral where preparations are under way to receive the body of president lech kaczynski and his wife maria. the sar sar cough kiss will be placed here. is often described as the heart, the very essence of what it means to be polish. to be laid to rest here is considered by many to be the greatest honor that can be bestowed upon a pole, and president kaczynski will be laid to rest just meters from this section of the crypt. here lies it's man considered by many to be one of the greatest military leaders in polish history. president kaczynski will also be among royalty. cardinals, poets and national heroes. the pantheon of poland's most

beloved figures. [ chanting ] >> reporter: the emotions on both sides of fierce. there are also those deeply disappointed that poland's universal grid has moved quickly. >> it's very, very sad. >> reporter: on one side, polish people who believe lech ka chintz kay w kaczynski. other saying he was victim, not hero and seems he is continuing to be so beyond his death. a sense of how divisive, some of those opposed to the decision are talking about protesting that decision on the day of his funeral service. t.j.? >> nobody certainly wants to see that. one thing, if can you quickly before we let you go, are the

world leaders going to make it? how much concern is there world leaders will have a tough time getting in because, of course, of that huge volcanic ash cloud that is still hovering over much of europe? >> reporter: that's the key question. everyone is looking to the skies, really to see. as far as we know, president obama is still planning to attend. france's president nicolas sarkozy is already with poland. the german chancellor merkel will do everything she can to be here. other than that, only a few solid cancellations. the south korea prime minister, the spanish prime minister. everyone else at this stage, they are coming, t.j. >> all right. phil black today. thank you so much. check in with you again. speaking of that vol can ish ash they were talking about, this cloud has no silver lining. forced airports across northern europe and beyond to halt all flights. isn't 16,000 flights have been

cancelled. 23 nations have halted commercial air traffic. that is stranding international passengers beyond -- in europe and beyond. for a better look at just how big an area this ash cloud covers let's check in with meteorologist bonnie schneider. it's huge. >> absolutely. volcanoes erupt all the time. it's the location makes a big difference, as well as the wind. here's iceland and here's the united king. because it's blowing into such a populated area right now. we are anticipating a wind shift later this week, bringing more of the ash particle further to the north. in the meantime, you've got sow see what's happening here. the travel picture is incredible. talking about all the areas not able to fly because the particles of the volcano and ash cloud over the region. it's not until you start heading towards sardinia, corsica and areas of valencia, spain, travel moving across europe, a couple flights reported here.

northern bell larus, into turke much of europe grounded because of this tremendous cloud of dust and particles. i mentioned we are going to see some change. let's look at that. what we're anticipating is a change in the wind pattern. instead bringing all of this to the south, we are looking at, kate and t.j., the wind shifts north a little further on on thursday. doesn't mean it clears out, just that scandinavia will be more affected then san trcentral eur. more on that coming up. >> thank you. and leaders gathering to talk about the biggest issues facing african-americans today and split a time looirline to g things done. roland martin with us after the break. and live pictures of the mass going on in poland. we'll continue our coverage of the services going on over there this morning as the country mourns the loss of their president and first lady. stay with us.

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well, an action plan for the african-american community. black leaders all over the country strategizing this weekend oerch wlaer to do about some of the biggest issues facing african-americans. coming up with a plan for the next year, hosted by reverend al

sharpton and our own roland morton, moderating and joining us now from new york. roland, always good to have you on the program. >> what's up, t.j.? >> 12 months pap timeline here. is that realistic? will we see action, something measurable, do you think, in the next 12 months? >> well, first and foremost, this is a live broadcast i'm hosting on tv-1 cable network, airing on cable network. the whole point is to have various organizations, not only discuss the issues taking place in black america, but also what are they going to do? not only organizations but also their followers. the people following, who we actually watch the broadcast. those folks in the room. so it is a matter of whether you have political issues, economic issues and social issues, who specifically is doing what? one of the problems, t.j., folks tend to say, let's talk about everything and all things at one time, but nothing ever gets done. you've seen the state of black

americans before. everything is discussed under the sun. once you leave, okay, that was great. see you next year. so the point is what are they going to commit to, each individual organization? and then on my show, on the morning show, on black america dotcom, every 90 days a follow-up to say, okay. what are you doing? what's the progress? how are you moving in the particular area? >> you're going to get real commitments from organizations, from people, this weekend, and it is going to be followed up on. >> yes. >> that's what's differ. listen up. al sharpton and another gentleman some people will recognize from the news lately talking at the conference, then i'll talk to you about it on the other side. let's listen first. >> clearly if we're going to have an agenda that addresses specifically with timetables the concerns of inequality in our community, if that's what this is about, we want to hear from all sides. >> follow those words with action. and that action is not going to be determined by a bureaucrat in

washington, d.c. that action is not going to be determined by someone with a title in front of their name. that action is going to be determined by you. because this is your moment. this is the moment where you decide enough's enough. >> we hear from the rnc chairman michael steele. he hit on this point. is the focus really going 0 be on partnership with government? he talked about, you don't need somebody with a title in front of their name. is most of the emphasis put on people in the actual community and black people themselves stepping up and making the difference? >> first of all, it's a beginnings combination of both. you can't affect change and act as if there's no policy part of that. so that is a part of that, but, again, so, like, for instance, a study came out a few weeks ago talking about, that the average black woman, single woman out

there has, frankly, a savings of $5. so if we're talking about economic empowerment, then how do you get people to begin the process of saving and investing? the aerial schwab report lays out where african-americans stand each year. we're talking about investing. talking about education, a job that targets african-americans if you're talking about how you tart resources for hiv-aids, the face now of a black heterosexual woman, that then requires a tollerancy requirement. michael blake from the white house will be there. also organizational leaders, in aacp, american nurses association pap variety of people who are going to be there. the point is, talk about the issue, talk about what needs to be done, but then go down the line and then say, okay. here is six, seven, eight different things. what are you committing to doing? what are you committed to doing?

what are you committed to doing? so when we come back in 90 days we're not having the same conversation. we're saying you specifically committed to do this. what is the status of this? i think that's a millions more movement. to the million man march. announcement in may, we're going to start a national black disaster relief fund. what happened? it didn't get started. so i'm sick and tired of the chat sessions. very simple, t.j. other conversations have been about meet, talk, disburse. this is about meet, mobilize, act. >> we'll see what happens over the next 12 months. follow-ups every 90 days and we'll follow up with you as well. roland, appreciate you coming in on this saturday and enjoy, and let us know what comes out of it. talk to you again soon, buddy. >> i was looking for the breakfast for you and kate. all i got was this water. can i get some pancakes? >> it's cnn saturday morning, again, roland. remember what show you're doing now. >> all right. got me this early.

come on! >> moving on -- it's a little book that they say makes politicians squirm. we're talking about the pig book. gentlemen, i said pick book. annual report on pork barrel spending. josh levs is looking at this and what's in it? >> yeah. you know being on capitol hill, something a lot of people dread. don't necessarily want to be highlighted in it, but it came out this week and i was right here looking at it as it came through. what we're going to do, break down to of some of this year's most noticeable pork barrel projects and show what you the so-called biggest earmarker in all of congress says about it. good job, keep going ! you took my eggs ! it's an "egg management fee." what does that even mean ? egg management fee. even kids know it's wrong to take other people's stuff.

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all right. we've got good news and bad news for you. which would you like first? the answer, i'll tell you. taxpayer money spent on pet projects this year. the good news that is the good news, but -- still talking about more than $16 billion according to this year's pig book. our josh levs is leer to tell us all about that's josh, what are some of the big winners -- oh depends on how you look tat. big winners or losers? >> money honey, nice lead-in. go to our producer. every year is comes out and every year a pretty big deal. it's a list, citizens against

government waste, some of the biggest earmarked projects in all of congress, and they have this event where they actually bring pigs to the announcement and actually show the pigs, and actually go ahead and make their announcement. i'll show a few examples of the pork barrel projects in the fiscal year 2010 project starting off with potato research. $2.6 million. put aside for potato research. $693,000 for beef improvement research. and $4.8 million for wood utilization research. the kind of examples this group talked about. lawmakers managed to get pet projects in, bring money them to support companies back at home, or group, whatever it is, in any given example. and along with this, they also had some senators who say this needs to stop. here's one senator who spoke. >> so many members of congress are saying, our debt is unsustainable. we have to do something, but then turn around and say i need

$1 million for a local sewer project. just tells you how irrational this spending culture has become. it's driven by earmarks. >> guy, one example there of a senator who says you know what? we need do something about this. so, kate and t.j., there are others out there who say the same thing. we'll see if anything changes actually. >> what are some of the senators, you know, that are -- this is not good p.r. for them. maybe back in their home district. what are they saying about this? >> i'll show you an example ever the man called the biggest earmarker. a screen showing -- when they looked how much money he got, $490 million, they're saying, for all the various pet projects. he spoke to cnn and said, hey, people in high home district aren't upset about this and it is allowed. the truth is, that's the way congress is set up. lawmakers can go there and bring money home to their pet projects. why should one lawmaker not do it when everybody else is doing

it? really, the answer in the end is going to be to change the system, if anything's going to be done about this at all. $490 million, allegedly the biggest earmark. >> projects, great to talk about when they go back to campaign. >> to campaign. brought this much money back. >> helps get votes. >> thanks, josh. the next brand of twitter. where you share your location with your friends, and it might even earn you a free meal. tech expert mario armstrong introduces us to four square coming up after your top stories. [ bottle ] really? mr. clean with febreze freshness

[ can ] febreze? please. i mean, so what if he cleans, like, really, really well, and he always smells, like, amazing? wait. what are you doing? no, no, no, no, no. you are antibacterial, hoss. oh, yeah! let me see that swagger. yeah! oh, wait, no, no, no, no. don't do that anymore. what? he's antibacterial, too. no. what? surprise! [ male announcer ] cleans and leaves febreze freshness and kills 99.9% of bacteria. also try our new bathroom spray that tackles soap scum and leaves febreze freshness. toyota can't seem to get a break these days. once again, they have a recall. this time, vans like the one you're seeing there. these are sienna minivans. recalling about 600,000 of them. you see the models up there.

1998 through 2010. what's the problem? not the brakes like other recalls of toyota. this time, the spare tire could fall off. there's some issue with ruts and road salt coming together, rust, causing a wire to break and then the tire could fall off on to the road, injure, of course, another vehicle that's on the road. toyota now working on the problem but telling own toers take those to the dealers for inspection. and scientist s at the university of wisconsin say they've examined what's believed to be a fragment from the meteor has lit up the skies across the u.s. earlier ins week. the video was amazing. scientists saying a man brought the rock to them after it hit the roof of his home wednesday night in southwest wisconsin. and live pictures this morning from, really, expected hundreds of thousands to be there to honor the victims of that plane crash last week in russia that took the life of the

polish president and the first lady, and many other top-ranking officials of the polish government. we're going to see the actual funeral service for the president and first lady tomorrow, but this considered the people's funeral today. again, hundreds of thousands lining the streets of warsaw to honor their president. ♪ four square.

you may treb as a ball game on the playground. i definitely do. in the dump ittal era a hot new game and social network that has the tech world wondering, could it be the next facebook?

maybe the next twitter? tech guru mario armstrong is here to describe this. what is location-based sharing? what is this? >> how does this whole thing work, right, kate? a lot of people are confused about this thing, because it has kind of taken off quietly. essentially what it is, it's called location-based sharing. what that means is, you can simply take your cell phone and you can use applications like four square, or 600 block, different location-based sharing and use your phone to check in at locations. maybe a restaurant, maybe a movie theater, or maybe some special activity and you score points by having more check-ins at those locations and it alerts your friends as to where your whereabouts are at any given time. >> so you check out the website. i just went on. the front page says, check in, find your friends, unlock your city. is this just -- there are so many social media, getting your

information out there things right now. is this just another one of those? what does this defg night -- designed to do, really? >> you bring up a good point. you get to a point where we're saturated with so many different tools that are out there. this one's a little different. it's different in that it actually streams where you are. it sends out information as to the location that you are currently at. so that has a couple of different meanings. number one, it allows you to find places that maybe you haven't visited before. it gives you a chance. if i show up in an area, in a zip code, and i pull up my phone and look for a restaurant, i can see what tips or what reviews about that restaurant from other people or from my friends are. the other thing, from a business perspective, though, this could be a huge advantage to small business owners that don't have the large marketing dollar. so can you use something like foursquare to be, maybe like your frequent flyers of social media program. kind of like a rewards-based

loyalty program, because foursquare can tell a small business, mario's checked into my place five times in the past week. maybe this time i should give him free fries or a free appetizer or a free drink? >> a free something. that's good. it's good to here kind of the positive. there's definitely positive aspects to, of course, what this is all about, but this coming from the girl who's just now getting comfortable with having a twitter account, at face value it does seem like it does raise red flags of security and privacy concerns. just putting all of that information out there in realtime, where your location is. is this at all risky? >> yeah, absolutely it is, if you ask me. a lot of people are getting caught up playing the game of fo foursquare and sharing locations, i love what it does, but you have to define who you're calling, "your friend." because you are broadcasting where you are. if i tell people i'm not at home. that gives them an opportunity, maybe, to go and rob my house or just stalk me.

i did have situations in the past, people would show up at a coffee shoppen announceded. i didn't realize i wasn't really using the privacy setting in the right way. you're absolutely right, katie. here's my thing. when we talk about technology i'm not here just to explain how to use the stuff. i really want people to understand how to leverage technology for their person life, business or organization. you hate kit a key point. do not broadcast this information out unless you really know who the friends are and don't link your account, your foursquare account to twitter or facebook, because that broadcasts you further. if you want to give somebody the keys to your house, if you wouldn't, they're probably not your, "friend." >> thank you so much, mario. we love having you on. >> my pleasure. >> join us every saturday at this time as our tech goo rur mario armstrong give us the scoop on the latest technology. >> just like every weekend, i have no idea what mario was

talking about. i'm just as confused as ever, mario. something else to sign up for. all right. giving mario a hard time's he's a good friend of ours. we're going to turn back now to something else. the picture is simply awesome. an awesome problem right now. this volcanic ash cloud has been going on now for several days. that volcano in iceland is still spewing the stuff up into the air. so now all of these delays, 16,000 cancelled flights, some of the stuff could go into next week for several days. airports across northern europe and beyond cancelled a toon of flights, we mentioned. talking 23 nations have actually halted commercial air traffic. they have essentially shut down airspace and passengers are stranded. especially in europe, but really, causing problems around the globe. our jim bouldon is in london. the airport behind you is usually one of the biggest and busiest day in, day out in the world. not so much the case today.

>> reporter: not so much today, t.j. it's very quiet. it's the third day this airport, heathr heathrow, has been closed, yet still passengers are showing up a the terminals and they're handing these leaflets out. pleading for people not come to this airport because there are no flights out of the uk today, period. american airlines is making it very clear. don't come to the terminal, because cannot change your ticket at the counter. you can only do it by calling. now, i have a ticket to the u.s. today that was cancelled on british airways. i call for 40 minutes on the phone. no seats available before tuesday. that's if those flights go on tuesday. this is real serious ramifications in other ways as well. we hear of tourist whose have hotels. they're stuck in hotels around the world, around europe. gets tossed out if they don't pay. tossed out if other people come who have reservations for that room. so the serious consideration for some people. what do they do? where do they go? they start coming to the airport

and are being told to leave. sports teams can't get to the where they are. food is not being flown into this country. there's so many other ramifications. every hour, every day. it gets more and more serious and more and more people find themselves dislocated. t.j.? >> dislocateded. even reports, i think the norwegian prime minister was stranded at an airport in new york. essentially trying to run his country from his ipad, because he can't fly back in. i don't know if he ever got out of there or not. jim, appreciate it. check in with you throughout the morning, once again, it is a travel mess, really, across the globe. right now. >> there's nothing that you can do about it this week. the wind. >> the wind. not like you wait for a storm to pass, or to it to stop raining. this thing and this vol contain so still spewing. >> amazing. blame it on the ash. and also we'll keep showing you the services going on right now in poland this morning. live pictures right there. taking a look at, as the country mourns the loss of its president and first lady, and so many others. stay with us.

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happening now, live pictures. a national mass to honor poland's president and the 95 other victims killed in a plane crash last week. our fred bric lierick lycan is warsaw. they expect hundreds of thousands to turn out for this? >> reporter: absolutely, kate. the authorities here in warsaw tell us they expect about 500,000 people to come leer. i'm not sure if that's the case. 500,000 people, but certainly a large amount of people who came here from all over poland, and before that, people are actually coming from all over the world. this is been going on the better part of the week. the coffin of the president and hid wife lying in state near lay

week. a lot of people coming here. the mass has been going on about two hours. you're actually hearing and seeing behind me now is the final prayer of this mass. it's going to be going on for much longer than this, however, the polish prime minister and the interim president of poland speaking about the national grief and mourning that happened, because, of course, he was not just a president on that plane but among 95 others were some of the top leaders of the country, military leaders as well as cultural leaders who are very, very important to the history of poland in the last 60 years. people who were relatives of those killed in a mass kerr and those that rid their country of communism years ago. this is a national tragedy for this country. and that their president was killed. going on a little later, another

mass where the coffins of the president and his wife are going to be displayed and afterwards brought to the burial ceremony which will happen tomorrow. >> you're in the middle of -- it's a large public square. describe kind of the area where you are just briefly, fred. so many don't know this area. it's somber but beautiful to see all of these people and all of that music happening there today. >> reporter: this is probably the most important square in all of poland. it's named after one of the country's great national heroes. a general who fought for poland in world war i. certainly where's such an event poles descend on this area. also known as the tomb of the unnamed soldier. where national hero, mourned. what some or many here in poland are saying president kaczynski is. he was kill in that plane crash,

but also because he was killed near an area where troops massacred a polish officer during world war ii some -- it is a very important spiritual place here for this country and that's one of the reasons why so many people have come here and, of course, why this event has been held here, because it is a place that -- almost like the national mall would be to americans, kate. >> thank you, fred, for putting that all in perspective for us. we'll continue to watch the memorial services as they go on today. stay with us. more after the break. about our cars... the most important is what comes from you. if you are shopping for a new car, we invite you to put ours to the test. put us up against anyone.

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[ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. time to take a check of our top stories. more trouble for toyota, if you can believe it. the automaker is recalling 600,000 sienna minivans made between 1998 and 2010. toyota says too much exposure to road salt may cause the cable holding the spare tire to fall,

putting nearby vehicles in danger. toyota says it's working on the problem. advices owners to bring cars in to dealers for inspection. you hate to see this. reports of this time and again. few colleges around the country, having to cut eighth leak programs. at uc davis, really hit. a shortfall in the athletic department. they are curting the women's rowing program. they're cutting men's wrestling, cutting swimming, diving, also cutting the track and field team. school says the move is going to save as much as $6 million over the next five years. poland is honoring its late president an 95 others killed in last week's plane crash in russia. this is a live shot you're taking a look at right now. a mom merle held earlier today pap mass for the crash victims is happening right now. seeing live pictures right there. today's ceremonies will be followed by tomorrow's funeral

for the president and his wife.

president obama this week, all hospital ace louse visitation rights for gays and lesbians. hospitals must ban discrimination to sexual orientation and gender identity and sent out a memo to the department of health and human services and it read in part, also uniquely affected of gay and lesbian americans who are often barred from the bedsides of partners too which there is spent decades of their lives. unable to be there for the person they love and unable to act as legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated.

paul, good morning to you. an apology from the president as well. >> yes. thursday night after the president sign this rule, which will attack a little time to go into affect, he called a woman in florida and her incident a few years ago when her same-sex partner lie dieing in a hospital and she was prevented from going in there. he called her. she said she's been looking for an apology from the state of florida for years but felt humbled an thankful to the president. this gay, leez bien and bisex wabl community, maybe a little upset feeling they haven't gone far enough or quick enough for the right of their cause. the president campaigned running for the white house said he would champion their cause. he's made improvements, definitely, but there is more to do, they feel there is more to do. don't ask, don't tell. another big case now. the president talk about that in the state of the union address and other areas as well,

"fortun t.j. >> maybe being upset with the president. a reason noor. 2008, high expectations for this pr president and gave him a lot of support. >> reporter: sure did. when campaigning, he said he would work to advance their cause. the presidential election, made up, seven out of ten. 70%, voted for barack obama. only 27% for john mccain. made up 4% of the electorate in the 2008 presidential election. for obama and any close elections down the road it could be a very important factor. >> paul, thank you. good to see pup check in shortly. >> thank you, t.j. cities are in a budget crunch. that's no news. you wouldn't guess that with some of the big stadiums being built. >> yeah. we're going to be talking baseball in this economy, with who else? that guy. you think he's our money guy, but he's our sports business analyst and has to pay us for

the privilege of coming on this show. we're going to take it to break. right after the break. there's a new 24-hour heartburn formula that's different. it's called zegerid otc. only zegerid otc has both prescription strength-medicine and a special ingredient to allow its powerful medicine to be quickly absorbed. zegerid otc controls and suppresses acid all day and all night. new zegerid otc. discover the difference. and look for $4 savings in sunday's paper.

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all right. baseball season under way. this week minnesota twins unveil add new $500-plus million stadium. blaut is the actual cost to the community? author of "beyond the box score," joining us with more. rick, good morning. the first question we've seen, what, st. louis, new york a couple years, minnesota now. what's the logic? sometimes you need to upgrade an old stadium, yes. but there's more to it than that. why dop these cities and teams fike they need new big, beautiful stadiums? >> want me to talk tab? >> sure. >> good morning. how are ya? it's all about the dollars. a few years ago, 40 years ago, everybody had toes big round stadiums. philadelphia, cincinnati. the public put up all the money. treated like infrastructure, like a park, a library and raised property taxes to do it. now public/private partnership. teams spent a certainality of money, a third, they get the

extra dollars because of skybox, parking, concessions and these days with those astronomical salaries,s thats the few that pays the salaries a and doesn't require higher ticket prices. >> how much are we fitting the bill? taxpayers? how much are we giving up? >> 250 of these recreation facilities done since 1990, a cost of about $23 billion total. about two-thirds of it generally comes from the public sector in a whole bunch of different ways. biggest way is, you take the dollar generated by these facilities, funnel it back into construction costs, kick startand the public gets the benefits of the events that come in. that's kind of the philosophy. >> is that how they sell it? government, everybody is, right now, is short. state budgets. look around, municipalities. is that how they justify it?

you get a kickback onced stadium's up? >> not a case of spending money on schools and hospitals. stadiums have their own economics to go along with it. the final fours, super bowls, the finals, benefits that come from the mid-markets as well. the dollars usually are maybe twice as much coming back in benefits, and that's the way this is sold. >> that's a tough sale for a lot of people. all they know is right now i'm hurting. my community is hurting. my state is hurteding and we're spending money on a staid yul. hoop going to do this sglex another city coming down the road going to be building a big, beautiful tad ystadium? >> look at the facilities already done. brooklyn, pittsburgh. miami has a new baseball stadium. tampa bay and oakland need them for baseball. san francisco and minnesota need them for football. if you have enough of these, the dollars, the ben minhjamins.

has to be a public/private or it doesn't get done. >> you said benjamins, you're holding up -- >> in your stratosphere, can you tell me what's on here. >> good to see you, rick. see you next week. are you tired of being nickelled an dimed by the ever increasing fees you're forced to pay every time you fly? you are not alone. we're dedicating the next 30 minutes to airline outrage. the big issue, how to cope. who's fighting for you. and what changes are ahead? there's quite a few of them apennine a.m. eastern time. d

what ticks me off about the airline, is 9 way they're charging. >> where else do you grow start charging you to use toilet paper? >> what ticks me off about the airline, when they lose my baggage. >> and they're all different and don't build it in the price. it's really annoying. >> and delays. >> bottom line is very simple. and that is, this is one of the you know, a quality of life issue. we all travel. we're all now accommodated, just stuffing things in a little suitcase that can fit right on top, and they ought not to charge for that. this week, emotional baggage boiled over at the mere mention of carry-on luggage. spirit airlines didn't realize it's national firestorm it would put up introducing a new fee and it ended up on congress' radar. >> two bills pending. the house fired off the first

one. the senate came next. they want to ban the fee or force the airline to pay a tax on it and to quote one senator, enough is enough. >> everyone cares about this. you know, life is difficult these days. gets more and more complicated. more and more difficult. let's keep a couple of things the way they were. >> well, after all, folks, you know, there are already fees for blankets, pillows, extra leg room. bags that are too heavy. bags that are too large. sandwiches, headsets, and yes, even an airline looking at possibly charging for you to use the bathroom. perhaps the one thing that tops the list now, spirit. they're starting to charge possibly for carry-on later on in the year. they led the way in charging for checked baggage and every other airline followed through. let's bring in mr. popularity himself. the ceo and president of spirit airlines. there she way smile on his face.

sir, we appreciate you being leer. i know you want to be able to explain this thing. before we get into a lot of the ins and outs of it, between $25 and $45 for a carry-on. why do you think it's necessary to start charging people to carry a bag on to a plane? something that is absolutely necessary for them to take on pretty much any trip? >> well, thank very much, t.j. it's great to be on your show. we think it's necessary, because there's simply too many bags being broad onboard the airplane today creating delays a lot of customer frustration and conflict right at the time the plane's trying to get out. to be clear, our policy has been designed to be very customer friendly. a personal item able to fit under the seat in front of you is still going to be free, and i brought an example of one that would work. for example, this bag, which you might think of as kwis large, actually, because it's soft sided, can hold a day or even two of clothing.

it can hold medicines, reading material. >> but what about putting my feet -- once i put that under the seat? >> well, the answer is, if you bring that onboard, if it will fit und are the seat in front of you, great. if there's room in the overhead bin, put it in the overhead bin. however, if there's not room in the overhead bin we knee will fit under the seat making sure everyone has room for their bag. >> then on the simple issue of principle, people that -- the reason they stopped checking bags is because the airlines disincentivized us by charging. we'll get around that. now i'll carry it on. now you want to charge them for that. just in principle, doesn't it seem a little icky to do that? just in principle? >> i agree but it's fundamentally fairer. i'll explain why. even when everything was included in the ticket price, checked bags, half our customers

at spirit never checked a bag. yet there's a lot of expenses for checking bags. tugs, carts, employees, insurance. bag belts, mechanics to keep all that stuff working. it half the people don't check barks everyone would have to pay a higher ticket price for those who do, and we think it's fundamentally unfair to charge someone for services they don't use. so the checked bag fee fixed that problem as it charged those who checked bags but didn't charge those who don't and our new carry-on fee does the same thing. we've lowered fares for everyone. so if you carry on a bag, you pay. if you don't, you save money. >> are you saying the only way you can keep fares low is charge feel to carry on a bag? >> we're saying we've lowered fares even further by being ago to carry on a bag. that gives people a choice. if you want to still carry on a bag on spirit beyond the fairly large one i showed you, the bigger roller bag would have to go in the overhead, you're still not paying more in total for

your ticket than do you today. if you choose not to and help us make boarded more quick as a result of that, you'll save $40 or more on your ticket. we think that's a great option for some people. >> psychologically for people to hear they have to be charged now for a carry-on is just going -- it drives people crazy and understandably so. isn't this just about, come on, between me and you, now. just me and you, isn't it about making a little more money? >> actually, it's not when it comes to the carry-on fee. it's about reducing delays and by reducing delays, that's a cost that we will get rid of and that will help save us some money. it's not about taking more money out of the individual's pockets to fly. it's about allowing them to be able to fly differently and save some money. in an economy when everybody's looking to save now and then, why not give people the option? if you don't dear onboard we'll takes 40ds off your ticket. seems fair. >> if you dear onboard we'll

charge yous 40ds for it? >> well, $20 or $40. >> or $45 if they do it at the gate. are you worried now you're about to lead the way on this and other airlines will pick up and is this going to cause more headaches for all customers? because you all led the way on checked back fee. here we are on carry-on fees? >> i don't really have enough brain capacity to think about the whole industry. i can think about my company. at spirit airlines we believe this is good for our customers and our customer, responding positively as our sales after august 1 are doing great. customers sitting down to buy a ticket recognize that when they get a super low fare up front, paying an extra $20 or $30 for the carry-on at their option is a really fair thing. now, we know what's right for spirit. we believe it's good for our customers and our customer, responding in kind with that. if other airlines decide to do it or not it's totally up to them to decide to do. we've not done this based and whether others will match or not. >> some consumers may stop

flying your airline? they might just hear, that airline charges for a carry-on bag. i'm not going there. >> well, you know, businesses take risks all the time, t.j. you knee. a number of years ago spirit was a two-class product and we removed or business class few years ago. at that point, some people used to fly spirit now don't also. the point is, businesses take risks all the time, and the marketplace judges those risks. you know, a long time ago coke put out new coke, it didn't work and they pulled it back. coca-cola and microsoft and all kinds of companies make decisions all the time. apple, to make decisions about what their products are going to be, and the marketplace tells them whether it's right or wrong based on how they behave. that's what this is. do you think this is right -- we think is right, and our customers can tell us if it's right or wrong? >> that's the point. some saying congress shouldn't get involved. let the consumers decide what happens here. there is another airline looking

at the possibility of chargie people to use the bathroom. do you think that's okay? i. wouldn't do that at spirit. i'll tell you why. our general view is, if it's necessary for a trip, we want to include it as part of the fee. sorry. part of the ticket price. a bangroom i would think is necessary, as would be -- >> so is the carry-on bag. >> but a reasonable sized carry-on that fits under the seat, can hold all essentials you need inside the tube of the airplane versus underneath. at spirit we wouldn't charge for the bathroom. i can tell you, i've been to paris, to lond, you probably have, too, and people pay for bathrooms outside the airplane. maybe in europe they see it differently. i don't know. >> on the last point, what's necessary. the carry-on bag is necessary. i do not have a carry-on bag that will fit under the seat. >> what can't you fit in here, t.j., you have to have on the airplane with you? >> take an overnight trip. a two-night trip, you need a couple pair of jean, a couple tea sherts, maybe a jacket. you can't fit that under and

you're asking people to fly for hours without stretching their legs out at all. that's necessary. >> so pays 15ds and check the bag. it will be there were you get there and you'll have an easier time onboard. everyone will get on quicker and you'll get to your destination on time more often. >> that's the point, too. we don't want to have to wait for the bags to come off. we like to get off the plane, got to go. got to get places. you're taking away the beauty of that convenience of a carry-on bag. >> well, again, let customers decide. >> they will. >> if it's mandated to go away, we think that's wrong, because that's taking a choice away from the consumer. not everybody eats at every restaurant. some people like some restaurants better than other. not everyone shops at nordstroms. some prefer walmart. the reality, the world is a better place and consumers better off when they have a wide array of choices. we're providing one choice. customers will decide whether they like it or not. >> you and i need to fly together. take a trip to vegas and use

carry-ones and try to get under the seats, and we are going to be two uncomfortable guys for a couple hours on that flight. ben, can't thank you enough for coming on's really, you probably put it best there, the customer, consumers, will sdpid. you're doing what you say is best for your airlines. your customers will decide. appreciate you coming on. >> love to have you come out to laug vases on spirit airlinesish t.j. >> yeah. i'll mail my bag, i suppose, before i fly you guys. ben, thanks. talk to you again soon. good luck with it. all right? >> thank you. all right. >> how do you feel, t.j.? >> we all do this. all have to carry on. that's the beauty and convenience. i can carry this on without having to wait for the bastion afterwards, a don't have to pay for a checked bag. seem to be taking that away. >> a la carte services. consumers will decide. >> absolutely. keeping fares low as well. it good to let him gcome on and respond.

you can tell i'm a frequent flier. a lot of you throughout will have something to say about this. interested to hear how you feel about the changes ahead. >> come april 29th, end of this month, you may be spending less time on the tarmac. that's good news, but it could come at a price. >> that's coming up. what problems the airline bill of rights will solve and what it will create. >> a woman instrumental in demanding more respect for passengers. stay with us. that's after the break. so i can join the fun at my family barbeque. (announcer) for people with copd, including chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both, great news. advair helps significantly improve lung function. while nothing can reverse copd, advair is different from most other medications because it contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help you breathe better. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used

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maybe add that in to make it easier for the passengers. well, don't hold your breath noor one. in 2006, kate hannah decided the airlines freeded to show passengers a little more respect. she had nine hours to think this over. that's how long she sat onboard a plane that was stranded on the tarmac. >> oh. and formed a coalition to push for changes in the industry. she took action, and this one woman you don't want to mess with, because at the end of this month, the new airline passenger bill of rights takes effect. she's with us now from san francisco. kate, thank you so much for joining us. tell me, what are all the big changes? what are people going to see? what are the big changes passengers will see when they get onboard the planes at the end the month? >> most notably, if stuck on the tarmac for any time of all they're going to be able to get portable water, food. they'll know the toilets will be serviced so they don't overflow. clean trash receptacles and

temperature control in the aircraft. they can't just turn off the engine and let you sweat while sitting on the tarmac. the second thing a very big deal, if you are on the tarmac for three hours, they must give you the option to get off the plane. and that's a very big deal. it's a big thing the airlines did not want to have happen. >> you have been fighting thor this for a very long time. do you feel like this is a success? you've won this fight? or is there still -- are you still looking for more things to come? >> well, unfortunately, while we've been fighting for these basic human rights issues, the airline industry has gone into a free fall as far as what they're offering customers. and now with all of the unbundling of fees and that passengers have no way of knowing what they're going to pay, really, for all of the unbundled fees until after they buy their ticket a lot of the time, we have a lot more work to do after this, but we do feel vindicated that the government agreed with us, that it is inhumane and unsafe to hold people longer than three hours

on the ground, without giving them the option of getting off and making sure that they have medications and potable water and food in case they are stuck on the ground. it's pretty rewarding we've gotten as much as we have and we're still fighting for more. >> so these new rules take affect at the end of this month, but already some of airlines are pushing back asking for extensions of these deadlines. really saying that some of the stuff is out of their hands. when you talk about airport construction, or weather delays. this isn't airlines' fault and maybe should be dealt with with on a case-by-case basis? >> they have great spin. their p.r. is excellent and they want to scare the pants off of you and i and the american flying public, and frankly, their arguments just don't fly. they literally are trying to scare us, but the truth is, they caused most of these issues by overscheduling, and if they were to depeak those hours especially

on the east coast between 6:00 and 8 o'croc a.m. and spread out the flights more evenly throughout the day you wouldn't have long tarmac time on the east coast. granted, there are always going to be a few exceptions, where there's going to be actual weather, and you're seeing that now in europe with this volcano. there are going to be acts of god that are going to hooappen, but those are rare. few of these tarmac events are actually caused by weather, and we tracked them with our hot line, and i've got to tell you, too. you know, it's amazing the arguments that the airlines are spinning out there about, to scare people, and i guarantee you that unless they try to retaliate for a short period of time, and try to force the department of transportation into thinking that the rule doesn't work, we're going to see a huge improvement in their efficiency. >> very interesting. we will definitely see. at the end of this month you may be paying more fees for carry-on luggage and things like that,

but you can see he, kate smiling today because at least you won't sit on the tarmac for more than three hours without the option of getting out. thank you. >> thank you. >> you just heard it right there. >> that's something. we'll take what we can get this morning as we fly. you just heard it there. airfare, expecting those to go up this summer, but if you know where to look, you can still find deals out there. josh levs will show us how, coming up right after the break. ? ♪ client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. with frequent heartburn. let me show you. there's a new 24-hour heartburn formula that's different.

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and facebook was still run out of a dorm room. when we built our first hybrid, more people had landlines than cell phones, and gas was $1.75 a gallon. and now, while other luxury carmakers are building their first hybrids, lexus hybrids have traveled 5.5 billion miles. and that's quite a head start. ♪ at ease on the keyboard and on the s.a.t. 9 and 98 pursetile. the secret, after-school tutors. >> doing pretty well in school. in no small part to the tutors. >> spends hours with tutors on

various subjects, english and critical reading in the kelly young project. >> there's the myth every chinese kid is good at math. a side from that it's just that they have the access to the school, to the extra crick color extracurricular activities and a lot of priority for them to do well. their parents won't take b for an answer. >> reporter: they often outperform american peers in reading, math and science exams. why? it may all come down to tradition. i'm at hong kong's temple, and this is the confusicius hall. it's the chinese tradition of emphasizing education that is due to the top scores. studying the education system here more than 20 years. >> hong kong, the confucius

society is very text oriented. there's a heritage to that. but there are also some other pragmatic views. pass examination, get into better school it's, better universities. >> reporter: with such an intense emphasis on getting into the better university, tutoring is huge in hong kong. according to a recent survey, more than half of hong kong students get private tutoring. >> the entire hong kong school community is very, very competitive. when i go to the u.s., for example, or even the uk, i find people are a lot more relaxed. >> reporter: he is not happy with his s.a.t. writing score. a mere 680. that's a 94 purercentile performance here. so what is going on with our schools? budget cuts, exploding class size, tumbling test scores. this weekend secretary of education tackled these

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you probably know there are lots of websites out there to help you book travel at a discount, but you might not know there are now some websites that surf the internet for you. >> okay. we get lazier and lazier. don't we, josh? no. everybody were use a little help. promise to find you the best deal. so, please -- >> of course, we don't have to do anything? oh, man. tell you, here's the deal. great websites out in. literally a minute left. here's what i will do. show you the statistic. this really struck me. people trying to book travel deals make an average of 21 different visits to website before they ever book. what there are now, a series of websites, they were saying, do

the searching for you. i'll show awe few. you don't need to write them down. i linked all of them for you. come into the screen quickry. one here is called momondo.com. kayak.com and one more to check out, fly.com. tell what you they want. they search the internet and promise to find you the best deal there is. my screen quickly. all the links are there on my facebook page right now. try it out. facebook.com/joshlevs. check it out. let us know if it is working and saving you a lot of time and a lot of money. i definitely recommend you try all three each time, because they sometimes find better deals than each other. kate and t.j., i'll follow-up and next week report how well they're paying off. >> all right. >> apparently we freed to save a little money for flying these days. >> yes, we do. don't get us started on that any more. josh, thank you. "cnn saturday morning" continues at the top of the hour. kate and i will be back